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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

DE WITT G. ROBERTS. DEVICE FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING GARS BY ELEGTRTGITY.

Patented July 1o, 1888.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 3';A

(No Model.)

DE WITT G. DEVICE FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING GARS BY ELECTRICITY. No. 385,774.

EGBERTS.

Patented July 10, 1888.

IHN

: ammmnnm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

v:DE WITT C. ROBERTS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF FIVENINTHS 'TO CHARLES T. YERKES. OF SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING CARS BY ELECTRICITY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,774. dated July i0. 1888. Application Iled August 24, 1886. Serial No. .211.715. (No model.)

To ail whom it may concern:

Bc it known that I, DE WITT C. ROBERTS, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Heating and Lighting Cars by Electricity, and I do hereby declare that the following .is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the aeompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices for lighting or healing by electricity cars which are propelled byV means of a traveling cable located in a conduit beneath the ground, and more especially to means for establishing connection between wires or conductors located in the cars and conduetingstrips or wires through which the electric currentl is conveyed to the cars from a generating plant or plantslocatedA at one or more places on the line of a railway.

A principal feature of my invention is embraced in a construction comprising two con- `ducting wires or strips connected with oppo site poles of a dynamo or electrical generator laid'. longitudinally in the cableiconduit of a railway and two rollers, wheels, brushes, or

other contact-surfaces sustained within the conduit in contact with the said wires or strips and having connection with the car by a rigid arm or bar extending through the slot of the conduit through which the arm supporting the grip device extends, said'rollers, wheels, 0r

brushes being moved with the car and having electrical connection by means of conductors upon the said bar or arm with the conductors of the car.

I have herein shown two diiferent forms of devices for the purpose above described, in both of which rollers are employed for making contact between the conductors upon the car and those within the conduit. These devices contain :ertain novel features of construction which are herein claimed as new; but the main featnre'of novelty above referred to isherein broadly claimed without restriction to thepart-icular devices herein illns ytrated as desirable embodiments thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, `Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through a cable or grip car, its supporting-track, and a cable'con- Vpart the form duit, 'illustrating one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken upon line x a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional plan View taken upon line yy pf Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a partial or fragmentary view through a conduit, illustrating another form ofdevice embodying the main features of my invention. Fig. 5 is 'a sectional plan view taken upon line a: of Fig. 4. 'Fig'. Gis a detail sectional view vtaken upon line wx of Fig. 5.

As illustrated in the said drawn gs, A is the 'car-body, A the wheels thereof, and c the snpporting tracks or rails.

B is a cable-conduit, which may be of any usual or preferred` construction, and within which is the cable B and supportingpulleys thereof,one of which'is indicated at bin Fig. 1.

C is a rigid arm or bar attached to the lower of the frame of the car and extending downwardly through the slot .b of the conduit B.

D D, Fig. 1, are conducting-wires which extend from the arm or bar C to an incandescent lamp, D', at the top conductors may, however, neeted with a heating device, A', located beneathv the seats or in any other desirable position on the ear, or a lamp of other form, or with both a lamp and heating device, as may be desired or preferred.

D, Figs. 2 and 3, are insulated wires or conductors forming afcontinuationo'f the con= duetors D of the car. and extending downwardly along' the bar C to the lower end of the lat-ter, where they are connected with insulated metal blocks or contact-points D3. In the particular construction illustrated` in said figures the conductors D2 are surrounded by insulating material and are Plaid in'vertical grooves formed in ythe edges of the said bar C, and the contactpoints D3 are fixed in blocks D of insulating material, which are secured at opposite edges of the bar C at its lower end.

E E in the several figures of the drawings represent longitudinal strips' or conductors leading through the conduit B. As shown I n Figs. 1, 2, andA 3, said conductors are made In of dat strips .placed edgewise upon opposite sides of the conduit,so as to form supporting-tracks for a wheeled car, F,through the medium of which the electrical currents lead to or be conof the car. These IOO in the supporting parts to suitably insulate the said conducting-strips. A simple and desirable .way ofsustaiuing said conductors, whereby the latter ,may be made with arelatively small cross-sectional area, as is desirable for economical considerations in the use of copper conductors, is shown in the drawings. In this case the strips E are supported by conlinuous metal stringers E' of inverted-U or trough shape, a packing, e, ofinsulatingma terial, being placed aroundthe lower part of the eox'iductorstnip within the hollow interior of thebar E', so as 'to firmly hold the said strip E in place. In this construction vthe upper edge ot' the said strip is of course extended sufficiently far above the top edge of the troughshaped stri nger E' to enable the wheels of the ear F to run thereon without contact with the 'metal of the stringer. The said Stringer may be conveniently supported from the walls of the conduit by means of metal brackets E or otherwise, as desired.

lVhen the conductingvslrip is supported in the manner above described and shown, I preferably make the lower part of the rsaid strip Awith a narrow flange and-I convergethe walls 'of the troughshaped Stringer-E inwardly and upwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. l, s o that when the insulating material e is packed around the strip liability 4of movement of the y latter either upwardly orA in any other direc tion will be obviatd.'

The car F, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2,. l3, is made with four wheels, F', the outer parts or rims of which are yinsulated fronitheir jonrnals f by means, of rings f', of insulating material, placed between the said rims or outer parts of the wheels and the 'thirnbles'f which are directly in contact with the said journals.

Upon the car frame at opposite sides 'thereof' are located .contact surfaces or brushes G,` which are insulated from thev 4car-frame by in.

' terposed blocks 'of insulating material, as g,

` ll, upon whichrthe car rests.

and are adapted toremain continuously in contact witlrannular bearing surfaces f3 upon the outenparts or rims ofthe wheels F', which parts are in contact with. the conductor strips The brushes G are connected by means of conducting strips or wires G with the insulated contact points G", sustained at themiddle ofthe caropposite' each other in such position that the lower end .ofthe bnr C may be placed between them with the contact-points l):s I)3 upon said bar in contact with the said contact-pointsG2G3 upon the car. Asapreferred construction, the eontact-points GIGi-are held by means of interposed blocks g', of insulated material, in a frame, G, which is sustained by means of springs g2 upon the frame of the car, the bar C being provided with a rigid downwardly projecting part, C', extending below tbe contact-pointsD-l, I

and engaging an aperture, j", in va plate, F, attached to the frame ot' the car F. By this construction the said car F is obviously actuated by engagement ofthe arni- C therewith independently. of .the engngeriient ofthe contact-points DH G, and the said contact points l heilig niovably sustained upon the car by the springs g2, said contact points willyield or move during. any irregular orjoltingr move: f ment of the grip-car, so thatrsaid contactpoints G2 will remain in close contact with the contact-points D:l D3 under all circumstances. In the operation of the device above described the electrical current for heating or lighting the grip-ear passes from one ofthe conductingstrips E, through one o f the wheels F and brushes G, to one of the contaet-points G", through which it passes to the vconductors ot' the car by means of one of the contact-poi nts D, and from the opposite contaeupoint Gr3 it passes through the corresponding parts at the opposite side of the car to the other conduct ing-strip E.

In the form of the device for the purpose above set forth shown in Figs. 4. 5, and 6 the couductingstrips E E are arranged at the same side of the cable-conduit, one above another, and rollers H H, mounted upon khorizontal swinging arms H H,(whieh arms are sustained upon theV bar C, which extends downwardly from-'the car into the conduit,) are ein ployed for making contact with the said conducting strips E E. The conducting-strips are in this instance constructed `and supported in the same manneras rbet-'ore described in connection with the form ot' device shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The arms H', supporting the rollers H, are desirably supported upon a vertical shaft, I, which is mounted insnit-able bearings i at. one edge of the vertical bar C, said shaftI extending upwardly into the car and being provided with a handlever, l', whereby it 'may be turned to carry the wheels against the conducting-strips orto move them away from said strips whenthe current is not iu use.

Means will be provided for holding the shaft I e in position with `the rollers H either in contact with or awayQfrom the conductorstrips,

means being bereinshown for this.purpose,

consisting et a notched segment, 12, connected with a spring-arm, i', upon the said lever I'. To give a yielding* pressure of the rollers H H against the conducting strips EE, so as to enable said rollers to move horizontally, as

may be necessary to prevent injury tothe parts by reason of the jarring or shaking of thecar,` t-he arms' H H are preferably made of thin spring ymetal-such las steel-arranged with their fiat faces vertical, as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The said arms lH are rigidly iixed to the shaft l, und are insulated frointhe said shaft and from each other by means of sleeves H2, of insulating material,

placed within the hubs h of the said arms and around the said shalt. Electrical connection is made between the said arms and the condnctors D2 D2 (which are held upon the bar C in the same manner as before described) by means of insulated metal blocks D5, connected with the said conductors D2 and sustained upon the bar C in contact with the cylindric surfaces of the hubs h of the arms H', this construction obviously affording a means for maintaining the said arms constantly in electrical communication with the saidconductors D2 D2 in whatever position the said arms are placed.

In the use of a device comprising awheeled frame or car, F, such as is shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3, the car will preferably be detached from the bar C, and will be retained at a station upon or at the end of the route at times when the employment ofa currentin the car for heating or lighting is not required, thereby saving the power required to move the said wheeled frame or car and the wear and tear upon the parts which would be occasioned by the continuous passage ofthe said car over the conducting-strips. As a simple construction in the parts to enable the bar C to be readily disengaged from, the car F, said bar is shown in the drawings as held at its upper end in a socket, Cz, in the frame of the car, the bar being extended through and adapted to slide ver! tically in the socket, so that it may belift'ed to. release its lower end from the car F when desired. The construction illustrated is, how ever, one only of a great number of different devices which may be employed in practice for removably securing the said bar C to the grip-car and for detachably connecting the said bar with the car F.

The main feature of my invention is embodied in a construction in which electrical conductors upon a car are maintained in elec trical communication with two electrical conductors located within a slotted conduit, and in carrying out this broad feature of the inven tio-n devices other than those above describedv and shown may obviously be used for maintaining continuons contact between the conductors upon the rigid bar which extends into the conduit and the longitudinal conductingstrips within the latter. My invention is not, therefore, limited to the particular features of construction shown, excepting as such features are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

i claim as my inventionl. The combination', with a car and slotted conduit, of two conducting-strips located within the said conduit, an arm or bar attached to the said car and extending into the conduit, insulated metallic wheels rolling upon the said conducting-strips Within the conduit, a frame or axle detachably connected with the said bar and affording bearings for said wheels, insulated contact-surfaces upon the frame having electrical connection with the said wheels. contact-surfaces upon the said arm or bar and conductors leading from said cont-actsurfaces' along the said arm or bar to the car, translating devices upon the car, and connections between the said translating devices and the conductors upon the arm or bar, substantially as described. l

2. The combination, with a car provided with a consumption-circuit including heating, lighting, or other translating devices, anda slotted conduit, of two conductingstrips 1ocated within the said conduit, an arm or bar attached to the said car and extending into the conduit, insulated wheels rolling upon the said conducting-strips within the conduit, a frame or axle having a vertically-yielding connection with the said bar and affording bearings for said wheels,-insulated contactsurfaces upon the frame in electrical-connection with the said wheels, contact-surfaces upon the said arm or bar, and conductors extending along the said arm or barto the consurnp tion circuit on the car, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a car provided with a consumption-circuitincluding heating, lighting, or similar translating devices, and a slotted conduit, of two metallic conductingstrips located within the conduit and arranged to form a continuous track, a frame or axle carryinginsnlated metallic contact-wheels traveling upon the track, spring-supported contact-surfaces upon the frame or axle, and an arm or bar adjnstably secured to and extending downward from the car and provided with contact-surfaces adapted to engage the contactsurfaces upon the traveling contact and to be thereby detachably connected thereto, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a car'provided with a consumption-circuit including heating, lighting, or similar translating devices, and a slotted conduit, of two conductingstrips located 'within the conduit and arranged to form a continuous track, traveling cont-act devices comp-rising a supportingframe and insulated grooved contact-wheels traveling upon the track, connections extending from the contact-wheels to contactsur faces carried upon the frame,and an arm extending downward from the cars and provided with conductors extendingfupward into the car and with exposed contactsurfaces at its lower portion, the eontactsurfaces of 'the arm being arranged to engage the contact-surfaces -othe traveling contact device within the conduitvand to propel the same while maintain` ing electrcabconnection between the cars and the conductors wil-hin .the conduit, subst-antially as described.

In testimony that I claini the foregoing as mya invention I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DE WITT (IL-ROBERTS. Witnesses: v C. CLARENCE POOLE,

CHARLES E. FISHER.

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